Sunday, June 26, 2005

Why "Stuff"?

Sometimes it is good to take in a lot of different things and think about them. When the things are unsorted and you are left having to put them in their proper order, figuring out how they are similar and how they are different I like to call them "stuff." When you get things already sorted out, you miss part of what you might be able to learn from them if you had to do the categorizing yourself. You lose part of the potential meaning which might include subtleties that go beyond the initial ability of others to sort them out. In fact the physicist David Boehem once wrote that figuring out the differences between things that seem alike and the similarities of things that seem different is the best way to come to understand them deeply.

And so we have "stuff."

I often write in a less than linear fashion, drawing odd parallels and hair-splitting differences. I enjoy it. But it also serves the purpose of helping to go beyond the usual ways of thinking about things. To me, this is so very necessary since the way things are must be connected with how we think about them, and so much of how things are now needs to change.

Don't ask me "exactly what does this mean?" Like pieces of art, the meaning does not come simply from the artist, but from the interaction of the artist, the art and the appreciator. It is the same with ideas. We ultimately construct the meaning of things collectively so that the full meaning is not inside any one of us. I share these ideas, this "stuff", so that we might all share in a process that helps to move us toward a deeper understanding and a better world.

Thanks. I will be posting a lot of stuff when I get the hang of it. I am Nandi's dad. I saw her last weekend in Stone Mountain GA. I will be going back again soon. I will tell her you said hello.

I checked your blog. I see you are a teacher. We need to talk. Come to a CDE (Community Dialog on Education) meeting sometimes. We meet every Tuesday morning at 7:30 AM at Faith Community Church/ Beloved Community Center at 417 Arlington Street. We are looking forward to engaging teachers in some dialog during the summer when they will have more of an opportunity to come to the meetings. I am sure you will appreciate the folks who attend regularly.

About Me

I am a community activist and social critic. I have just become the Executive Director of the new Fund for Democratic Communities.
After graduating as a Presidential Scholar from Little Rock Central High School in 1967, I went on to Cornell University where I was the leader of the Black student organization struggling for Black Studies. I left Cornell to teach at Malcolm X Liberation University in Greensboro. When it closed I remained in NC to do labor and community organizing.
I volunteer in the public schools. Often I find myself agreeing with students who are considered difficult as they critique how boring and irrelevant school is. But I also enjoy sharing with them how exciting and liberating authentic learning can be.
I have worked over 35 years in industry and for nearly 30 years on my current job as a Senior Electronics Specialist. I sometimes play jazz flute and recently worked on the score for a short movie. Fun! If no one stops me I will even play blues guitar and sing.
I love to read, to write, and to try to understand the world to make it better. My two favorite things are truth and beauty. There is not enough of either in most folks lives.